When Governor Rell (R-CT) began submitting her budget proposals, one of the first items she proposed to defund was the State's Office of the Healthcare Advocate whose mission is "dedicated to serving Connecticut's health insurance consumers by resolving conflicts with their insurance plans," acting on behalf of consumers with insurance companies, empowering consumers "to become effective self-advocates" by educating them of their "rights and responsibilities under traditional and managed care health plans," and provide consumers with a voice in the legislative process. There was such a public outcry from citizens and elected officials, the Governor rescinded her proposal to defund OHA.
During this legislative session, OHA set out to close a major loophole in a 2007 law that had to do with an insurer's ability to rescind or limit individual policies or deny claims based on medical information they uncover after a claim comes in. In other words, one could be lying in a hospital, undergoing major surgery and suddenly, without warning or recourse, be dropped by your carrier, leaving you without a means to continue treatment, or possibly loose your home because now that you are uninsured, you cannot afford to pay for treatment.
To address the loophole in the 2007 law, a bill was proposed during this past legislative session that made it more difficult for heath insurers to rescind individual policies. The bill passed the House and the Senate only to be vetoed by the Governor. No doubt, industry lobbyists were hard at work. What is chillingly clear in the language she chose in her veto, Governor Rell's concern is with the special interest groups and not the people she has promised to serve. State Healthcare Advocate Kevin Lemob was quoted in The Hartford Courant, stating that the Governor's decision is "among the most callous veto messages I have ever seen from this governor."
Lembo added that, "Nowhere in her veto message is there a recognition of the impact on a patient lying in a hospital bed whose policy has been ripped away ... No concern for people losing their homes or foregoing life-saving treatment because an insurance company decided it was too expensive." Read full article.
Each of us must become self-empowered to be our own health care advocate. We cannot continue to allow insurance companies to dictate our medical care. Six months ago, my husband's physician prescribed a medication to lower his cholesterol. Upon trying to fill his prescription, our insurance carrier decided that the doctor's request was too expensive and attempted to force my husband to take another medication, which was much less expensive. My husband called his doctor who insisted on the prescription he wrote for medical reasons. It took this doctor almost three weeks of phone calls back and forth between doctor and insurance carrier to finally get the insurance company to agree to the doctor's prescription.
It is up to us to take full responsibility for our health care in every way.
Stand Up for Health Care. Join with hundreds of organizations, groups and individuals and contact Congress and let them hear our united voice to provide viable health care reform THIS legislative session. And then come out on Saturday, June 27th, and attend one of the health care service events that is taking place in Connecticut and all across Connecticut. Click here to find an event near you.
If you are in the Greater Hartford Area, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Hispanic open market on Park Street in downtown Hartford, come out and try some of Goya's new low sodium brands as the company reaches out to the Hispanic community to enjoy traditional foods delivered in a more healthy way. Find out about health and exercise, get your blood pressure checked and more. Click here for full details.
Val McCall
State Chair
Organizing for Connecticut
Visit Organizing for Connecticut
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